Noelle's Rock: A BWWM Holiday Romance (6 page)

A cigarette dangles from Beau’s lips. The woman with the blond hair takes the cigarette from Beau’s mouth and brings the cigarette to her red painted lips to take a drag. My blood begins to boil with jealousy at the intimacy of the scene.

“Noelle, what is wrong with you? I have been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes,” Shelby’s eyes are filled with concern by the time I finally give her my full attention.

My mouth opens and closes, but no words come out. I feel an onslaught of dizziness come over me. I grasp Shelby’s arm before my eyes close and everything goes blank. I can hear Shelby as if she is far away calling for someone to help her.

Chapter 8

Beau

I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight

Peaches and Daria are getting a little too close for my comfort as I try to relax on the sofa after my hair-raising performance on stage tonight. Peaches leans in and her too-sweet-smelling perfume is overwhelming and nauseating to my senses.

I turn my face away from her just in time for her red, painted lips to land on my cheek instead of my mouth, but my move of avoidance only cost me to come into contact with Daria’s lips, which were ready to assault mine.

All I can think of is Noelle Winters and the sweet taste of her lips. In the past, I would have enjoyed being sandwiched between two beautiful women. This was a time before Noelle entered my life like a surprising snow storm to ruin me for all other women.

I can feel Peaches’ double D-sized implants against my back as she presses up against my back. “Let’s go to the back suite,” she whispers against my ear. I can feel the warmth of her breath against my ear just as I hear the faint cry for help in the crowded, noisy room. The cry is faint, but it penetrates clearly to my ears.

I tear my lips away from Daria and wedge myself from between the two as I stand. I look around the large room just in time to see a woman with a glorious head of natural curls fall into the arms of a blond-headed woman by her side.

The body of the falling woman instantly hits a cord inside of me, which causes me to react instantly. Although I can’t clearly see her face because most of her hair is covering it, there is an instant recognition in the very pit of my stomach.

“Hey, where are you going?” I can hear Peaches call out to my back as I hurry across the room to aid the woman who has fainted.

By the time I make it across the room, several people are standing around her in the way, and I shove them aside as I fall down to my knees to assist.

“Help my friend,” the blond-headed woman says.

I quickly look into her tear-filled, blue eyes which show only concern.

“Stand back,” I order everyone. “Give this woman some air.”

I brush her hair aside to reveal her face. My heart stops before it erratically starts to beat again.

“Noelle,” I gasp. Her name easily slips from my lips as I look down at my beautiful angel.

I assess that she is breathing normally, and I check her pulse. I lift her head onto my lap and gently tap her cheeks to get a response from her. Her brown eyes slowly open to meet my stare.

“Barry,” she says as her eyes fill with confusion.

“It’s me, baby,” I say softly to her.

“Here, Beau, take this,” Laney kneels down beside me with a bottle of water.

“Thank God, Noelle. You scared me to death,” her friend cries.

“What happened, Shelby?” Noelle finally tears her gaze from mine to look at her concerned friend.

“You fainted,” Shelby says as I take the open bottle of water from Laney and help raise Noelle into a sitting positon to give her a small sip of the water.

“I’m all right,” Noelle says as she tries to stand up.

“No you are not. Something could be wrong with the baby, and you need to be checked out by a doctor,” Shelby argues.

“I haven’t eaten since lunch time today at work. Missing a meal probably affected me in some way. Just take me home, and I will eat something and go to bed.”

“You know better than that, Noelle,” I say gruffly, looking into her beautiful face in concern. I take in her thick, shiny lips coated with some kind of slick gloss. I just want to take her into my strong arms and kiss her and love her until I can make her mine once again. “You must take care of yourself and this little miracle you are carrying,” my hands slide down possessively across her stomach as if the baby she is carrying is my own.

“Wait a minute. How do the two of you know each other?” Shelby looks from Noelle to me with a look of confusion.

“We will talk later, Shelby. I promise,” Noelle replies. “But right now, all I want to do is get out of here. I have embarrassed myself enough for the night by fainting in a room full of people.” An embarrassing flush spreads across her high cheek bones.

Shelby continues to look between the two of us with surprise and confusion. She stands and reaches out a helping hand to her friend to help her to stand on her feet, but before Noelle can react, I hand the water bottle back to an unusually quiet Laney and lift Noelle easily into my arms before standing.

“I will see that Noelle gets home with no problem at all,” I state.

“No! Shelby will see I get home safely,” Noelle replies in a voice of panic.

“Noelle is right, we came together, and we will leave together,” her friend says in a protective tone.

Noelle has entered my life again like an unexpected storm. There is no way in hell that I will let her out of my sight tonight. If I have to kidnap her, then so be it.

“Noelle is in great hands. I promise you that nothing will happen to your friend, if this is what causes you to worry. Stay here and enjoy yourself. I will have someone to see you safely to your destination whenever you are ready to leave,” I say to Shelby.

“Noelle and I already have a driver to see us safely home. Put her down, please,” Shelby begs.

“Like I said before, I will see her safely home,” I reply before stalking off.

“Beau Barringer, I don’t care who you are, but you better let my friend go,” Shelby says, running behind me as I carry her friend off towards a private elevator that will carry us down to a private garage.

“Thump.” Something solid hits me on my back. I swivel around with Noelle in my arms. Her arms are loosely clasped around my neck.

“I will hit you with something harder than my clutch next time if you don’t let my friend go.”

The fierce protection Noelle’s friend has for her is admirable, but I have no time for entertaining her friend. I look around for the men in black who are littered throughout the room for security. I nod once, and one of them stalks over to stand between us.

“See that this lady gets everything she needs and make sure she gets to her ride safely when she gets ready to leave.”

Noelle gives a loud sigh after her lengthy silence. “Call your pit bulls off my girl, Barry…or Beau…whatever your name is,” Noelle says, glaring into my eyes.

I nod my head for him to step aside so Noelle can speak with her friend.

Shelby glares at me with the same intensity that is in Noelle’s eyes.

“Shelby, it is okay. I will willingly go with Beau. There are some things I need to discuss with him anyway,” she finally concedes.

“Are you positive because you already know I have your back? I don’t give two hoots if this man is a rock star,” she says, throwing another glare my way.

“I’m positive,” Noelle reaches out for Shelby to take her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze before letting her hand go. “I will call you tomorrow and touch base with you.”

“Okay, make sure you do that,” Shelby says as we enter the elevator.

She stands there and watches us until the doors swish closed. Noelle is quiet in my arms as I carry her over to the waiting Cadillac Escalade stretch limousine that is waiting for me. A smartly dressed man stands beside the vehicle.

“Where to, Mr. Barringer?” The older gentleman asks as he acknowledges Noelle with the tip of his chauffeur’s hat and a twinkle in his eyes.

“Charles, this is Noelle Winters, and Noelle, this is Charles Nixon, my driver as well as a long-time, family friend from back home,” I say with affection.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, beautiful lady,” Charles says with a smile as he opens the back passenger door for our entrance.

“Hi, Charles, and thank you,” Noelle says softly as I seat her first and then slide in behind.

Charles closes the door before going around to the driver’s side to slide behind the wheel and await my instructions.

“Take me to the hotel, Charles.”

“Yes, sir.” Charles puts the car in drive and takes us out from under the private garage to merge into traffic.

The heat circulates around the interior of the limousine. I finally look over at Noelle, who has slid to the far corner of her seat as her back rests against the passenger door. She is starring daggers at me. I can see that she is angry, but I don’t want to fight with her.

It has been too long since I last saw her. I can think of more pleasurable things that we could do together besides arguing.

“Charles, take the long way around,” I instruct him.

Charles’ and my eyes meet briefly in the rearview mirror before he nods his consent. I press a button to slide a partition into place to give Noelle and I the privacy that we need.

“Why did you tell him to take me to your hotel? I want to go home,” she says before reaching over to slide the partition down. “Charles, take me home please.” She spits out her address to Charles.

“Follow my first instructions, Charles,” I say to him before sliding the partition into place once again. I can hear Charles chuckling to himself as the partition closes.

“You have some nerve, Barry…I mean Beau Barringer,” Noelle says with an attitude.

“Noelle…sweetheart, you have every right to be angry with me. I should have told you who I was before you left me all those weeks ago. But I found it hard to tell you the truth even after I found out you were who you said you were. Please forgive me, baby,” I appeal to her.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“Look at you like what?”

“You don’t have the right to look at me all sexy with that blue-gray-eyed glance of yours. I am not like your two women tonight. They were clawing all over your body, and you were just letting them,” she says with more than anger in her voice.

Daria and Peaches come to mind. I didn’t know she even witnessed the way Daria and Peaches were trying to get me into their bed. If she really knows how I feel, she would know that she has ruined my desire to be with anyone else but her.

“You don’t have to be jealous of them. They mean absolutely nothing to me,” I say truthfully.

“Is that the way you kiss someone you care absolutely nothing for? Their lipsticks are still on your lips. I can’t believe that I gave myself to you the way I did. I am probably just another notch on your belt,” she ends on a sigh.

“You can be no further from the truth. I admit that before I met you I would have taken women like Daria and Peaches up on their offer without a second thought, but since meeting you, I no longer want to live the wild life I was living before. Noelle Winters, you make me want more, and you have no idea how much I miss you,” I say with meaning in my voice.

“See, now I know that you are lying. How in the world can you miss me, and you didn’t try to find or contact me in any way since I left you?” Noelle asks with heated accusation in her voice. “It seems as if you are a compulsive liar, among other things.”

“Damn it. Are you ever going to let me live that one little mistake down? I misspoke when I first thought you were a reporter from some cheesy tabloid out to get a story. I have trust issues, and rightly so. When you are in the spotlight, it is hard to know who to trust and who not to trust. I will say, once again, that I am sorry I lied to you, but I am not a compulsive liar.”

“What about all of the other women you have at your beck and call? I know you lie to them to keep them pacified, right?”

The more my beautiful Noelle speaks, the clearer it becomes that she is jealous. I don’t need or want her to be jealous of any other woman I have been with before her. I don’t want her jealous of any other woman, period.

I look into Noelle’s eyes so there will not be anymore misunderstandings now or in the future.

“Noelle, I won’t lie to you. There have been lots of women. Too many really,” I say and lean my head back into the cushioned seat. “This is who I am…let me rectify that…that is who I was before meeting you, my beautiful Noelle Winters. I know you won’t believe me, but after my tour ended, the first thing that was on my agenda was to find you again. But fate reunited us before I found you myself. Now that we meet again, I am never letting you go.”

“Before I say I forgive you, I have a question,” Noelle says with tears in her big, beautiful eyes.

“Ask away. I will do anything to make it right with you.” I want to reach out so badly and pull her warm body into my embrace, but I wait to hear her out instead.